


Stitched Together

by Aussie_Bunyip123



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Awkwardness, Character Death, Fighting in Colosseum, Fluff, Grimmchild is addicted to Doritos, It's a valid plot point, Limited edition rainbow marshmallows, M/M, Not any of the main ones tho, Rejection, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide mention, Swearing, Tiso is an idiot but that's why we love him, funny?, trying to flirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29038368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aussie_Bunyip123/pseuds/Aussie_Bunyip123
Summary: Quirrel falls for one of the Colosseum contenders.Tiso can't get the hint.Grimmchild is eating Doritos.What?Yeah, idk either, lol.
Relationships: Quirrel & Tiso (Hollow Knight), Quirrel/Tiso (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26





	1. Brink of Death

**Author's Note:**

> Wussup everybody!  
> Uhh, hope you all enjoy my work, I had fun making it.  
> Just to inform y'all that when I figured out what type of bug each character was it was whatever Google told me first.  
> Grimmkid eating Doritos is a valid sentence, thank you.

[QUIRREL]

Quirrel followed his friends through the shadowy cave that led to the Colosseum. They ran along the stone floor, making sure the belflies couldn’t reach them as they swooped down from their ledges. A large corpse, flesh rotted away, with chains rooted deep into its bones, came into sight. The group, which included Ghost, Hollow, Hornet, Cloth, Lemm, Myla, Grimmchild and himself, slowed to a halt outside.

“Is this the place?” Lemm panted, exhausted from the run. Ghost nodded their head.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Hornet asked, “I know you said you defeated the other two trials pretty easily, but I’ve heard that no bug has survived this one yet...” “Yeah, we don’t mind if you wanna pull out. We can just buy snacks and go.” Cloth added in. _‘_

 _"I am doing this trial,"_ Ghost signed to them, _"and I’ve already bought the tickets!"_

“Ah, alright then. I guess you can return to your shade if worst comes to worst, but just in case, I did bring a first-aid kit!” Myla beamed, hugging Ghost.

Ghost led the way through the entrance, the skull of the corpse.

“Ugh, this place reeks,” Lemm complained, “Not even my vanilla scented body wash will be able to get rid of the stench!” Quirrel agreed. All he could smell was sweaty warriors nearby and the sickly smell of blood. He wanted to vomit.

 _Why do bugs come here, when it’s only for glory and riches? Are they so desperate to win that they’d sell their own life to compete?_ Quirrel shook his head, he knew Ghost would be alright. As far as he knew, Ghost couldn’t fully die. Every other contender though, they only had one life. Ghost paid the chained up fool the fee and passed over their friends tickets. The fool nodded, letting them pass, and the group walked further into the arena. _‘_

 _"Hey, do you guys want snacks?"_ Ghost signed to them.

“What? Are you sure? We can pay for ourselves you know, and you probably don’t have much geo left over from paying the fee and tickets.” Cloth spoke. Ghost tilted their head and removed the bag from their shoulders, inside was a shit ton of geo.

“Dude...where did you get all this geo…” Hornet trailed off. Ghost avoided her question and instead asked the group what they wanted once more.

“Uhm, I’ll just have a chocolate milkshake I guess.” Cloth replied.

“Yeah, I’ll just have vanilla one,” Hornet added.

“How can you guys even think of eating or drinking anything right now?” Myla asked, “I’d probably vomit it up watching the battle!”

“Yeah, fuck that, I’ll just have water then, I’m parched from the run.” Lemm joked. Quirrel and Hollow both refused the offer while Grimmchild decided to go with Ghost to decide at the cafeteria. The rest of the group walked into the stands. In the middle was a huge pit, a few dead bodies littered around. A fight must have just ended.

“Where should we sit?” Quirrel asked.

“Let’s get seats in one of the front rows!” Cloth replied. Hornet cheered in agreement and the group soon found a row of seats two from the front. Almost immediately, Quirrel heard a voice rise from behind.

“Hey, tall ass!” A rich husk behind shouted. Hollow turned around, confused. “Move to the fuckin back row, my kids can’t see the fight if you sit there!” Cloth and Hornet grumbled in reply, but eventually, the group moved to the back row. Quirrel sat down next to Hollow, leaving two vacant seats next to him for Grimmkid and Ghost.

“What an ass!” Hornet retorted, sitting next to Cloth.

“Yeah, but at least we can see the arena better. Plus, Hollow _is_ pretty tall,” Quirrel added.

“I mean, I guess you’re right, but he could have been nicer about it.”

“Hey, Quirrel!” Lemm called from the seat between Hollow and Hornet, “Think there will be any hot guys fighting?”

“I hope so, or then I would have only came to see Ghost fight,” Quirrel joked back. Lemm laughed in agreement. By the time they cleared the arena, Ghost and Grimmkid arrived with the drinks and snacks and sat down next to Quirrel. Soon, the crown came to a silence, eager to meet the new contender. The gate pulled up, and in walked an ant. He was about Quirrel’s height, with broad shoulders and a lean posture, equipped with only a shield. Quirrel couldn’t read his face, it was covered by a hood, but the warrior’s eyes were narrowed dangerously.

Lemm spat out his water at the sight, “Holy fuck! I know that guy! He’s an absolute asshole!”

“Ugh, I know,” Hornet glared, “This will be interesting to watch.” The gate fell back down, the crowd cheered, and the battle began. Quirrel watched, shocked, as the arena poured in bug after bug, wave after wave. He knew that he was an experienced warrior himself, but to fight this many bugs at a time, with not a break in between!? No wonder so many bugs fail this trial. Though the ant didn’t give up, though he only wielded a shield, he was a strong competitor, striking out at the foes with his shield and strength.

[TISO]

One after another, fool after fool, Tiso kept up his pace, dodging, attacking and slaying the enemies down.

 _It feels like I’ve been fighting for ages!_ Tiso thought to himself after a while.

 _Surely this should be over soon, and after I’ve won, every bug will know my name! Tiso the conqueror, the first bug to complete and survive the Trial of the Fool!_ He continued fighting and soon the waves stopped.

 _Yes, finally!_ Tiso thought to himself. He leaned against the closest wall, body shaking from the fight, and looked at the crowd. They were all silent, as if the whole arena was holding its breath. Shocked? Waiting?

 _I guess they’re pretty surprised, I can’t blame them. Must be quite shocking to finally have someone beat the trial,_ Tiso smirked to himself. Yet the gates stayed closed and the crowd stayed silent.

_Hello? Where’s my geo and title! Tiso frowned, What’s goi-_

The rumble of the far gate distracted him from his thoughts. Tiso’s eyes widened at the sight. In walked a beast, a figure of a cockroach wielding a sword on it’s back. The gate closed behind them, trapping him inside. Tiso brought himself away from the wall, his limbs screaming in agony.

 _Just...one...last enemy,_ he tried to encourage himself. The beast let out a ferocious screech and the roach jumped from it’s back. Instantly the beast rolled itself up into a ball, heading straight towards him. Tiso dodged just in time, only to almost crash into the roach. She narrowed her eyes at him and swung back her sword. He was barely quick enough to bring his shield across and protect himself from the blow. Tiso rolled out of the way and got back up, trying not to waste any time. His legs ached, and the wounds along his body stung.

 _I_ _won’t be able to keep this up for long,_ Tiso panicked, _and I haven’t even got a hit in yet!_

He looked up, but not soon enough, the beast spewed out a pile of infected acid. Tiso hopped out of the way to avoid the hit, but instead stepped into the acid he didn’t know was behind him. Tiso shrieked and fell. The agony was too much, he could feel the tears pooling up in his eyes. He bent his head towards the ground, refusing to meet the taunting laughter or the crowd around him.

 _All of this work I’ve done, all the training, now to be all thrown away by this stupid arena and this stupid roach with her beast!_ He felt the tears rolling down his face, _...why?.._

Through the earth beneath him, he could feel the thuds of the warriors feet come towards him. He stared at the ground, in shame. This isn’t how he wanted to go out, but he’d be dead any heartbeat anyway, his pride wouldn’t matter, not if he wasn’t around to care about it. At that last moment, Tiso felt the warrior’s sword push through his stomach and his vision went black.

[QUIRREL]

Quirrel couldn’t believe his eyes. Just like that, the once-powerful warrior, slain in a minute. He couldn’t get the horrifying images out of his head. The fear in the ant’s eyes, his shriek of pain, then his cruel end curled up on the floor. It was the bump of something hitting his leg that brought back to the present. He looked over to see Grimmkid tearing apart the pack of Doritos he got, not even giving a damn about what had just happened.

Quirrel looked back to the pit. The beast and roach were heading back to the cage, and the Colosseum employees were cleaning up the arena. He watched as one picked the fallen warrior by the arm, carelessly dragging him through the dust.

He wanted to cry.

 _All of these warriors,_ he thought, _who have trained so hard to be here, that just get thrown off into t_ _he acid once they lose. That’s not right._

He dwelled on the thought a while longer, and suddenly, he remembered something that Monomon had once told him back when she taught him.

_‘Monomon,’ he remembered himself asking, ‘what’s the Colosseum of Fools?’_

_She had reeled back, shocked by the question. ‘Why do you ask dear?’_

_‘I’ve heard that it’s where brave warriors go to fight and show off their strength for geo. Is that right?'_

_‘_ _No, dear,’ Monomon shook her head, ‘It’s where brave warriors try and win glory by impressing the higher-ups, who only watch them for their entertainment. Her eyes narrowed more seriously, ‘Never go there, Quirrel. Those husks have no respect for you, and they certainly have no respect for the dead.’_

_‘_ _What happens if you die?...’_

_'They throw you off the arena, down into the acid of Kingdom’s Edge.’_

_Quirrel dipped his head, saddened by the thought._

_Monomon must have noticed the look on his face, as she bent down to speak with him. ‘There was this one time,’ she began, ‘I went to the Kingdom’s Edge. I only went to look around, but I noticed a bug…,’ her eyes drifted off into the distance, distracted by old memories, ‘who hadn’t actually died.’_

_Quirrel glanced up, surprised. ‘What happened to them?’_

_‘He survived. Only because I had a first aid kit in my bag, but he made it,’ she replied happily until her eyes narrowed again, ‘But that still doesn’t mean you should go there Quirrel. That bug was just extremely lucky. I don’t know of any other bug that’s survived, so don’t test your luck, and make sure your friends don’t either.’_

Lemm’s voice brought him back to the present, “Holy fuck, that was malicious…”

“Yeah, that last beast was brutal. You sure you’re up for this Ghost?” Myla questioned.

Ghost nodded their head with enthusiasm. _"I'm gonna go now, wish me luck!"_ they signed.

A thought suddenly stuck Quirrel.

What...What if...that ant my have survived?

He knew Monomon said it was unlikely, but surely he should check, even if it’s less then a 1% chance.

“I’ll go down with you,” Quirrel said, “Maybe I should take the first-aid kit as well. I could treat any of Ghost’s wounds asap if they get any bad ones.”

“Great idea!” Cloth spoke. Quirrel and Ghost waved good-bye to the group, leaving poor Hollow to deal with Grimmkid. Once the two got down to the entrance, Quirrel hugged Ghost good-bye and waited for them to go through the gate. Quirrel quickly looked through the kit and pulling out a few things that would be necessary.

 _Needle, thread, bandages, scissors…_ he thought while going through. He took his hood off to carry the supplies in and tied it up.

Wait, he hesitated, what if Ghost gets badly hurt? He looked back in the kit and noticed that a multiple of most stuff was in the kit, or at least of what he took. Relieved, Quirrel closed the case and put it next to the gate door so Ghost or one of their friends could see it. With that settled, he headed towards the entrance.

Quirrel ran, sprinting past the belflies and dropped down the ledge that led into the Kingdom’s Edge. He stopped to take in the sight; primal aspids flew lazily around, hoppers jumped about along the sides of the clearing, a few warrior corpses’ laid on the ledges.

None were the warrior he was looking for.

Quirrel scrambled down the rocky ledges, slaying the aspids as he went, not giving a care for his own safety.

 _...Why am I so desperate to find him?_ Quirrel thought, scanning the slope. _It doesn’t matter, just gotta look for that glistening silver shield, or that cute navy hood or tha-_

Quirrel stopped in his tracks, he could see the warrior now, lying, sprawled on his side. He rushed over to the ant, suddenly nervous. Slowly, he gently pressed a finger to the side of the warrior’s neck. His eyes widened in shock. He could feel a pulse, yet faint and slow…

But still a pulse.

Quirrel examined the warrior. Blood still slowly leaked at the deep wound on his stomach, he untied his hood, pulling out the stitches and thread. Mind focused, Quirrel stitched up the wounds and applied bandages. He scanned him once more. The warrior’s leg laid at an awkward angle. Quirrel moved down to examine it.

 _Fractured,_ he sighed. He looked around further along the cliff and stopped when he found a couple of sturdy, straight stick. Quickly, he carried them back to the injured warrior. Quirrel straightened out the broken leg and placed a stick on each side, then wrapped them firmly around the leg.

 _That will have to do, for now,_ Quirrel thought. He placed the hood of items, along with the shield, onto the warrior and picked him up. Fortunately for Quirrel, he wasn’t too heavy.

 _I can’t take him back through the front entrance of the Colosseum. That chained fool would never let me pass with this guy. I’ll have to find another way,_ Quirrel sighed, _Now I just have to make sure I can dodge these aspids and get across._ He pulled himself together and crossed the ledges to the other side of the cliff. Luckily, no aspids had seen him. Once he reached the other side, he slowly started climbing the ledges, thankful that they weren’t too far apart. Finally, after dodging several aspids, he made his way to the top, he turned to see an old caterpillar, asleep on the ledge.

“Excuse me,” Quirrel spoke.

The caterpillar opened his eyes, “What?”

“Would you know where I can find another entrance to the Colosseum of Fools?”

“Ha! Wouldn’t you like to know! I ain’t tellin you shit!”

“C’mon man,” Quirrel grumbled, “I had to fight like 10 primal aspids to get here!”

“Oh fuck, why didn’t you say so?!” The caterpillar said, quickly moving out of the way to show a long, steep tunnel. “If you go up there you’ll soon be able to make it to the back entrance of the Colosseum, be careful tho, there’s acid.”

“Cool, thanks,” Quirrel replied. He looked up the tunnel and stepped inside.

Quirrel emerged at the other end of the tunnel and took in the sight. There was an old iron cage, a few huge claws (probably from the chained beast of the Colosseum), and a few sticks.

_Great._

He narrowed his eyes, trying to make a plan, and soon, one came to mind. Quirrel gently lowered the warrior onto the snow and got to work. He wedged the sticks along the spikes of the cage, so they wouldn’t hurt the warrior of himself.

 _Let’s hope this cage can last in the acid for a bit, or we’re totally screwed,_ thought Quirrel. Quirrel surveyed the items, he couldn’t take the bandages with him any longer if he were to get the warrior and his shield across as well. He emptied the hood of supplies and put it back over his head, then slung the warrior over his shoulder and picked up the shield. Swiftly, Quirrel picked up a claw and gently pushed in the cage with his foot. He scrambled on board, leaning the warrior against the cage to take off some of the weight, but careful to not let him drop to the acid running across the cage floor. He rowed the cage forward with the claw and soon came to the other side. Quirrel braced himself and leapt onto the rock wall. Slowly, yet steadily, he made his way up.

 _Man, I wish I was Hollow right now. They have really long arms and would get up here in no time!_ Finally, they reached the top. Quirrel pushed the warrior over the ledge, grimacing, before pulling himself over. Quirrel picked up the warrior again and walked forward into the Colosseum. They soon came to another pit.

 _This must be where the warriors rest up before battle,_ Quirrel guessed. He walked along, making sure to avoid hitting any warriors. Though some glared at him, none stopped him or spoke. After making sure the chained fool was looking outside the arena, he scurried past and made his way behind the stands and called out from where he guessed his friend’s seats were. They all looked over, except Grimmkid who was probably still eating the Doritos, but said nothing.

Lemm broke the silence. “You seriously ditched us to go and bring back a dead body?”

“Yeah, what the heck Quirrel,” Cloth laughed.

“He isn’t dead,” Quirrel frowned, “Come down and see.”

They soon joined him behind the stands.

“So he’s actually alive?” Myla asked, poking the ant.

“Yeah, barely, but still alive,” Quirrel replied.

“What are you gonna do with him?” Lemm asked.

“I don’t know. I need to take him somewhere safe, yet near, so I can retreat his wounds.”

The group mumbled idea’s, not having any good places in mind.

“Lol, what about we throw him in Deepnest?” Lemm joked.

“No way! Let’s leave him in the Royal Waterways!” Hornet laughed.

“Guys!” Quirrel sighed, “Can’t you try and be serious?”

The joking went on a while longer until Ghost clapped their hands to get the groups attention. _"What about the Pleasure House near the King’s Station?"_ they said.

“There’s a Pleasure House near the station?” Cloth questioned.

 _"Yeah, I’ve been there a couple of times. It’s really quiet since it’s abandoned. There’s a hot spring there and enough room to look after him. It wouldn’t take too long to walk there,"_ Ghost replied. Everyone had their jaw dropped in surprise.

“YOU MEAN THERE’S A LITERAL HOT SPRING JUST OVER NEAR THE STATION AND YOU NEVER TOLD US?” Hornet shouted.

Ghost nodded their head.

“DUDE!!”

This time Quirrel laughed at her, “C’mon guys, let’s get going.”


	2. Tiso Awakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang find the Pleasure House and hang out.  
> Tiso later awakes and Quirrel has to deal with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya welcome back! Hope you all enjoy chapter 2!  
> Note to future self if I ever post another fic on here again: Please don't use so much italic...

[QUIRREL]

Quirrel pulled himself up the ledge. The group had just arrived at the King’s Station, cold and wet. Next to him, Hornet shuddered, “I c-can’t wait to get inside that Pl-Pleasure House. This water is fr-freezing!” 

_ "Don’t worry, it’s only a block away now,"  _ Ghost replied.

Quirrel looked over at Hollow to see if they needed a hand. The tall vessel had been carrying the warrior since they left the Colosseum, but Hollow had already pulled themself up with ease.

“We better get a move on,” Quirrel spoke, “We should get there by dark.”

The group moved along, only ever slowing to take down a few husk sentry’s. By the time the moon had started rising, they had made it to the door.

_ "Follow me,"  _ said Ghost.

The group followed, soon making it to a lift.

“Oh,” Quirrel sighed, “I guess we’ll have to make two trips…”

“Nah, we’ll all make it in if we squeeze!” Cloth replied optimistically. 

She was right, but it was a tough fit. Hornet and Ghost ended up having to sit on her shoulders to make room.  After what felt like a week, the lift finally came to a stop.  Cloth squeezed out first, the rest closely following behind.

“Sweet! Now all we should have to do is climb these stairs, right?” Questioned Myla.

Ghost nodded.

The group raced up, wasting no time, and finally came to the reward they were looking for; the hot spring.

Quirrel took the warrior from Hollow’s arms and scanned the room for a safe place to put him. He spotted a small dip in one of the corners close to the entrance and headed over. Quirrel lowered him gently, trying to make sure he’d be comfortable.

_ I’m gonna have to look for something to turn in a make-shift bed,  _ Quirrel thought.

Before he could do anything, Lemm screamed from the other side of the room, “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?” 

The group raced across, and Quirrel looked down to see dead Millibelle. 

Nobody spoke. 

After a few moments, Hornet finally broke the silence,  “Um, Ghost? Where did you end up getting all that geo from?..”

Ghost didn’t meet anyone’s eye. 

A few moments passed again until Cloth spoke up.

“Hey, I don’t know what you guys are doing,” she spoke slowly at first, “but imma go get in that hot spring!”

The group cheered, totally forgetting about Millibelle.

“Hey, Myla!” Quirrel called.

She rushed over at the call, “You alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, I just wanna head downstairs to see if I can find some comfortable bedding. Could you keep an eye on him for me?” He pointed to the warrior.

“Of course I can! Don’t worry,” she added in, “I’ll make sure Lemm and Hornet don’t get to him.”

With that, Quirrel headed back down the stairs.

_ I think I may have seen another room on the right,  _ he tried to remember.

He was right. Quirrel headed inside. There was a stage, old bouquets lined the edges, the flowers dead, a few pillows scattered across the floor, and long drapey curtains lined the windows.

_ Perfect! We could just sleep down here! _

Quirrel began removing the curtains one by one. He was just about to get the last one when a voice surprised him.

“What are you doing?!” The voice questioned him.

Quirrel turned around to look. On the stage stood a young moth, who also happened to be a ghost.

“Oh! Sorry for intruding,” he began, “I didn’t know anyone lived here.”

“That’s fine. I just want to know what you’re doing.” 

“I came here with friends, they’re only staying for the night. I’ve come here to take care of a wounded warrior I found, but we won’t stay down here any longer after tonight. Would that be alright with you?” 

The moth thought about it for a moment before nodding, “I guess that would be alright,” she began, “I don’t get visitors anymore, so I’d love for you guys to hear me sing as well!”

“Of course! I’ll bring them down with me soon.”

“Guys, can we go downstairs now?” Quirrel asked. The group had been in the spring for two hours now, never finding something not to do. They had changed from cannon-balling, to marco polo, to playing pretend sharks, over and over. Quirrel just wanted to lie down.

“We’ll be there in a minute!” Hornet called.

Quirrel sighed and went over to check on the warrior. He hadn’t seemed to get any worse, but he hadn’t improved either. Quirrel would have to change the bandages again in the morning. Frustrated, Quirrel glanced over to his friends again, who were still playing games in the spring.

_ Fine, I’ll just take this guy down there now and they can join me when they want. _

Quirrel lifted the warrior with ease and made his way down. 

When he got to the room, the moth wasn’t there.

He walked to the other side of the room, lowering the warrior next to the window, then picked up a pillow and curtain. Gently, he lifted the ant’s head and placed the pillow beneath him, then laid the curtain over him.

“Is that the friend you’re looking after?”

Quirrel turned, the moth had appeared from behind the stage curtains and was making her way over.

“Oh, yeah he is. We’re not friends though,” Quirrel added.

“You quite attentive and gentle,” she pointed out.

Quirrel could feel himself blush. “W-well he’s wounded pretty badly, I gotta keep an eye on him.”

“Right,” was all she said.

Quirrel paused, trying to think of something to take the conversation in another direction, one that didn’t involve his possible feelings for the warrior.

“Uh… you never told me your name earlier…” he trailed off awkwardly.

“Marissa, you?”

“Quirrel.”

She said nothing more. He guessed she had caught on to his idea, but was enjoying the conversation far too much to want to change it.

Before she could ask any other questions, his friends finally arrived down the stairs.

“Yo, this place looks awesome!” Hornet stated, surveying the room.

They each took a pillow and curtain, then chose somewhere to make themselves comfortable.

Quirrel took his share last, but was confused when he still saw a set of bedding on the floor. He scanned the room, noticing that Ghost and Grimmkid weren’t in the room. 

Hollow must have seen the look on his face,  _ ‘Don’t worry, they just went out to get snacks.’ _

“Great! I hope they bring back some Salt & Vinegar chips for me,” Quirrel smiled.

“Ugh, I can’t believe that’s your favourite flavour,” Cloth snorted, “Me and Hollow both know that Barbeque is the best!” The two flashed each other finger-guns in unison.

“I like Light & Tangy,” Myla added in.

“Ew to all of that shit!” Hornet butted in, “Chilli for life!” Lemm glared at her, probably about to add something as well, but before he said anything, Ghost and Grimmkid returned holding many bags of chips. 

They passed around everyone’s favourite flavour, Grimmkid even left a bag next to the unconscious warrior.

_ “Right, so now that we have that settled,” Ghost said, “What are we gonna do?” _

“That’s a dumb question. We’re gonna play truth or truth obviously, but I’m gonna add a slight twist,” Hornet added, “We all have to answer the question.”

_ “Only truth?”  _ Hollow asked, confused.

“Well, we can’t do any good dares in here so it may as well just be truth. Anyway, I’ll go first. If you had to kick someone from the group, who would it be?”

“Hollow, so then I could be the tallest in the group,” Cloth replied instantly.

“Hmm,” Lemm thought, “For me, it’d proba-” He got cut off due to loud crunching noises. Grimmkid had finally got his pack of Doritos open. 

“I’d have to cho-” He got cut off again by the crunching.

“I’D HAVE TO CHOOSE GRIMMKID CAUSE HE EATS SO LOUDLY!” Lemm yelled.

Grimmkid wailed and hid in between Hollow and Ghost, shivering. 

They both glared at him and then pointed his way. 

_ "Lemm, for being mean to Grimmkid!"  _ Ghost decided, Hollow nodding in agreement. 

“Good choice,” Hornet agreed, “For me, it’d have to be Quirrel, cause he makes me feel like an idiot sometimes. It’s hard going from smartest to second smartest you know?” She pretended to cry.

Quirrel laughed, “For me, I’d choose you because you wanted to ditch that guy in the Royal Waterways,” he pointed back at the ant. “I also can’t make gay jokes with you,” he added before she could bring up what Lemm’s idea was.

“Uhh,” Myla trailed off, “I guess I’d have to choose Cloth maybe, just cause she seems the most intimidating. Sorry,”

“Don’t worry about it. We all know the group wouldn’t be the same without each other. We’re not being serious after all!” Cloth reassured her. 

“Okay, sweet, next question,” Hornet paused for a moment, “Okay, I know this is gonna be super clich é, but is there anyone you guys are interested in?”

Lemm groaned, “Are you serious Hornet?”

“Look, I know, I know, but it’s still a fun question!”

“Fine, whatever. I’ll go first then,” Lemm grinned, “Millibelle.”

“WHA-”

“HA!! GOTCHYA DIDN’T I HORNET!?!”

Hornet paused glaring, “Man, I was almost really worried for a second.”

Everyone laughed.

“Okay, your turn Myla,” Cloth spoke.

“Ah, well,” Myla blushed in embarrassment, “Ghost is kinda cool, I guess.”

Ghost looked up, surprised.

“Okay, cool, cool,” Hornet rushed in, “It’s only asking who you like, nothing else. Quirrel, it’s your turn now.”

“Uhhh, nobody,” Quirrel said too quickly.

_ Oh shit, they’re gonna know something’s up now. _

“You sure Quirrel?” Cloth narrowed her eyes in thought.

“Yeah, come to think of it, you were quite defensive of that ant earlier. Why? Unless you’re interested in him?..” Hornet smirked at him.

Quirrel tried fighting the blush that rose to his cheeks, which only made him look more flustered, “Well he’s injured. I’m just making sure he’s alright, that’s all…”

“BULLSHIT!!!” Marissa called from the back room.

“WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!” Lemm yelled.

Marissa came forward from the stage, “Sorry, it was just me. My name is Marissa,” she smiled.

This was Quirrel’s chance to avoid the topic going back to him.

“Yeah! Marissa told me she was a singer and that she wanted to sing for us!” Quirrel beamed.

That caught her off guard, “Oh yes! I’d love to sing for you guys, would you mind?”   
“No of course not,” Myla replied.

And with that, the group had forgotten about the whole conversation on Quirrel and the ant.

After a while, Marissa finished singing.

“That was awesome!” Myla cheered.

“Thanks! I should probably go now, it’s getting late. Some of your friends have already fallen asleep,” she added.

Quirrel looked over to see Ghost and Grimmkid, already sound asleep. 

_ Right, Ghost would probably be worn out by their win in the trial earlier,  _ Quirrel remembered. Come to think of it, Quirrel was tired too.

“Yeah, I’m gonna sleep now,” he yawned.

“Sounds good,” Cloth replied. 

Quirrel pulled the curtain over him and was soon fast asleep.

Bright light awoke Quirrel the next day. He opened his eyes, squinting against the glare. Turning, he saw that no one else had woken yet. Quirrel stretched his limbs, trying to wake himself properly, and turned over to check on the warrior. The ant was sound asleep as well, looking much better then he did yesterday. Quirrel sat up, deciding to change the bandages sooner than later.

He dragged over the kit that Myla had brought with them the day before, pulling out a new roll of bandages. Quirrel removed the old bandages, noticing that the wounds were looking better, and started wrapping the new ones over. Quirrel was surprised that he hadn’t noticed how well-muscled the warrior was the first time he put the bandages on. He must have been too anxious about keeping him alive to notice, he did notice now though, as he re-bandaged a wound on the side of the warrior’s nice firm bicep…

_ He has a good jawline too,  _ Quirrel thought before he could push out the image. He narrowed his eyes, determined to only keep focused on the warrior’s wounds.

Quirrel soon finished with the bandages and packed away the kit. He pushed himself up from the ground, picking up the old bandages, and headed towards the exit.

When he returned, Hornet and Hollow had awoken.

“Don’t worry! I didn’t draw a moustache or anything like that on him,” Hornet said, putting up her hands defensively as a joke. 

_ “Yeah, he’s alright,”  _ Hollow added in for reassurance.

“I guess the rest of us are gonna have to leave today,” Hornet stared at him, “Sure you will be alright?” 

“Of course I will!” Quirrel replied confidently, “I know how to take care of myself, and I’m sure the wounded ant with the fractured leg won’t have too much of a chance against me if he’s angry anyway.”

“Okay then, you’re probably right.”

As the sun rose a little higher the rest of the group rose as well. Once everyone was up they all wished Quirrel good-luck and went on their way, saying that they would probably drop by the Fungal Wastes to hang out with the Mantis Lords.  Quirrel watched them walk down the street from where he stood at the window until they had gone out of sight.

“Have your friends already gone?” Quirrel heard Marissa voice from behind.

“Yeah, you just missed them. Sorry.” He responded.

“Oh well. I’m probably just gonna write a few songs in the backroom behind the stage. Call me if you need anything.”

“Bye,” Quirrel waved, watching her disappear behind the curtains. 

Quirrel turned to glance back at the warrior, who still hadn’t awoken. He should be alright if Quirrel left to get breakfast. With that, he headed down the elevator in search of a cafe.

[TISO] 

Tiso turned, flinching in pain.

_ If I’m dead, then why am I in pain still? _ He thought confused.

He opened his eyes taking in the sight. He was lying in a well-lit room, sun beaming through huge windows, and the walls and ceiling were some mauve wallpaper with fancy patterning on them. Some soft, pink blanket was placed over him. 

_ I guess this is the afterlife then? Not really what I expected… _

He tried turning again, this time resulting in a yelp of pain. 

_ Do I have to wait for my wounds to heal in the afterlife too?... _

Suddenly, a pretty moth ghost appeared at the corner of his eye. 

_ A ghost huh? Guess this just confirms it then. _

“Ohhhhhh shit,” the moth spoke, “Don’t worry, okay? Quirrel will be back soon and he’ll look after you.” 

She disappeared from his sight.

_ That wasn’t the introduction I expected…. Maybe this Quirrel bug is the ruler of the ghosts or something who is supposed to be greeting me to the afterlife? _

Tiso had no idea. A few moments passed and he heard frantic footsteps coming his way. A pillbug stood over him, eyes widened in surprise.

“Don’t worry,” the pillbug said, in a soothing tone, “I’ve checked your wounds, you’ll be alright.” 

“...What?” Tiso replied in a weak voice.

“You were badly hurt in the Colosseum yesterday,” the pillbug explained, “But I’ve been keeping an eye on your wounds and now that your conscious, I’m sure you’ll make it.”

“I’m not dead?”

“No, no, you’re fine now. You almost did though. I guess you’re lucky someone cared enough to go and check on you.”

Tiso narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of what happened. He remembered being in a pit, fighting all these different bugs, and then there were the last two bugs... He shuddered, the memories returning.

“Don’t worry,” the pillbug soothed him again, “There’s nobody else here in the Pleasure House except me and Marissa, and we won’t hurt you, alright?”

Tiso narrowed his eyes again, “The Pleasure House?”

“Yes, it’s near the King’s Station, about a block away. It was the closest place I could think of that would be safe enough to take care of you, and it has a hot spring full of soul upstairs-” the pillbug paused, “Actually, a soul bath would probably make you feel better in no time!”

The pillbug removed the curtain from Tiso and picked him up, turning towards the entrance.

“Hey, I can walk you know!” Tiso insisted.

“You won’t be walking for ages,” the bug said, carrying him out to another room, “I believe it’s only a fracture, but it’s pretty bad, you would have hit a lot of rocks on your way down when they threw you off,” he paused again, “I’m Quirrel by the way.”

Tiso looked at his legs, noticing that his right leg was wrapped in bandages with a couple of sticks wrapped in as well.

“Great. So how many weeks is it going to take for it to heal?” Tiso asked in a frustrated tone.

“Weeks?” Quirrel laughed, “We’re looking at about 2 months!” 

“WHAT! I can’t be stuck in here for that long!”   
“Well, I guess you could probably leave on some crutches maybe a month or so before that, only if you were to look after yourself though, and you don’t look like the type of bug to do that. Soooo, yeah, 2 months.”

“No way! You can’t keep me here for that long! I’m Tiso the Conqueror, the first bug to defeat the Trial of the Fool!”   
Quirrel glanced at him sympathetically, “But you lost.”

“But I survived!”   
“But you lost,” Quirrel reminded him.

Tiso narrowed his eyes, “Well... then once I’ve finished healing I’ll go back and fight again. I’ll win for sure next time!  _ Then _ I will have my title!”

“Tiso,” Quirrel began softly, “The bug that went in after you won the trial. You can’t win the title anymore.”

“...What?...” Tiso replied in dismay. 

“I’m sorry. You probably trained very hard for that fight,” Quirrel spoke, “but, at least you survived!..”

_ “At least I survived??”  _ Tiso hissed, “Why would I have wanted to survive?! Do you know how much shame and embarrassment I’m in? All those husks laughing at me as I was curled up crying in the dirt! It’s probably all over Twitter right now!”

Tiso sniffed, trying to hold back the tears, but failed to do that as well. He turned his head from the pillbug, not wanting to show him how weak and helpless he felt. 

Quirrel soon got to the top of the stairs. Tiso looked up slightly, only to see what was inside. In the middle, was a large hot spring, a bench nearby, and a few scattered papers all over the floor. He was carried over until they got to the edge of the spring, and Quirrel lowered him into the water.

“I’ll just be somewhere outside,” Quirrel trailed off, “Call me when you want to get out, okay?”

The pillbug soon left the room. 

Tiso stared at the water. What was he supposed to do now? All his life, he just wanted to win that trial, to win something that no other bug had won before. To prove himself he was strong. Instead, he lost and had been thrown off a cliff!

He sighed.

_ I’ll guess I’ll have enough time to think of something in the two months I have to stay here for. Right now I should try and figure out what to do to pass the time.  _ He guessed that Quirrel and Marissa wouldn’t hurt him as the pillbug had said.

_ I’ll guess they’ll be able to keep me company, but I’ll probably lose my mind if I have to stay in this tower for any longer then just 1 month!  _

Tiso sighed again, not being able to come up with any other good ideas, and decided to let the spring do its job.

  
  
  


[QUIRREL]

Quirrel tried reading the book he found, but couldn’t quite concentrate. He felt terrible for the warrior. Rain hit the roof of the building, echoing around the room. It was cold. Quirrel wished he could have been in the hot spring as well, but he knew that the ant would have liked to be alone, probably still upset from the news about the trial.

Moments passed until he heard the ant call from inside the spring. He walked in, sighing at what he saw. The ant had attempted to get out of the spring by himself, and Quirrel could see he had reopened a wound in doing so. Fortunately for the ant, it was none of his serious ones. 

“Seriously dude? Are you an idiot?” He asked once he got to the warrior’s side.

“My name is Tiso,” the stubborn ant replied, refusing to look at him.

“Look, I know you’re not happy about your current situation, but you need to accept that you’re injured.” 

Tiso sighed, “I’m just not used to others doing stuff for me, okay?”

“I understand,” Quirrel replied softly, “But you’re going to need someone to help you for a while now.”

Tiso said nothing more, so Quirrel picked him back up and carried him down the stairs.

Both bugs stayed silent until they reached the other room. Tiso waited for him to fix the wound before breaking the silence, “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to have any food do you?”

“We only have a packet of chips,” Quirrel replied, remembering the chips Grimmkid had left near Tiso last night. Quirrel reached over, pulling out the chips from the curtain it was hiding under, it was Salt & Vinegar. 

“Well, at least it’s my favourite flavour,” Tiso said, opening the bag.

“Cool! That’s my favourite flavour as well!” Quirrel beamed.

They laid next to each other, feasting on the chips. Quirrel tried thinking of something to say.

“Well, since we’re gonna be hanging out together for a while now, we should probably get to know each other, right?” he asked the ant nervously. 

“Sure,” replied Tiso, “Uhhhh, who’s the ghost moth?”

“That’s Marissa. She let me and my friends stay here for the night, except for you and me so I could take care of your wounds. She’s pretty cool,” Quirrel answered, “Why do you only fight with a shield?”

“Well, I think nails break too easily...” Tiso trailed off before talking again, “And if worst comes to worst, I can turn it into a deadly weapon which could take out almost anything!”

“Why didn’t you use that in the last phase of the Colosseum then?”

“I don’t know, guess I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Tiso mumbled the reply.

“Anyway,” he shook his head from the thought, “Tell me who your friends are.”

“Well, it’s a fairly big group,” Quirrel started, “Aside from me, there is Ghost, the short vessel, you’ve probably seen them around. Their sibling, Hollow, they look kinda similar, but their much taller then Ghost. They have a sister, Hornet. There is also Lemm, he works down at the relic shop a few blocks from here. Cloth, she’s cool, used to be a bit of a traveller. Myla, she used to work in the mines up at Crystal Peak, and Grimmchild, Grimm’s kid who lives up at Dirtmouth. They travel around sometimes.”

“Ohhh, shit. I know three of those guys and I know two of them hate me,” Tiso spoke, gritting his teeth.

“Which ones?”

“Uhhh, Lemm. Quite sure he’s hated me since I took the last iced latte in Woolies, and Hornet because one time I tripped her over for the fun of it.”

Quirrel laughed, “I guess that explains why they suggested leaving you in Deepnest or the Royal Waterways!”

Tiso laughed as well, “So how did you end up finding them?”

Quirrel broke away from the laughter, remembering what had happened only a few months ago.

_ Quirrel had stared at the long body of water in front of him, lost in thought. Monomon was gone now, well, not that she hadn’t already been gone earlier. He remembered now, how she had told the king that she’d accept his request to become a dreamer, to never awake again. _

_ ‘If this is what I have to do to protect Hallownest, then I’m going to have to do it,’ she had told the students. _

_ One day she pulled Quirrel aside, her face serious. _

_ ‘Quirrel, I need to ask you a serious favour,’ she had begun, ‘Take my mask and leave Hallownest.’ _

_ ‘Leave forever?’ Quirrel questioned. _

_ ‘No. If the king’s plan fails, then the dreamers will need to die to reopen the egg holding the infection. But it should only need to open when it needs to, so that’s why I need to give you my mask.’ _

_ ‘When will I know when to come back?’ _

_ ‘Don’t worry, you will be able to tell when the time comes.’ _

_ ‘...I won’t see you again, will I?..’ Quirrel trailed off. _

_ ‘No,’ Monomon replied sadly, ‘But this needs to be done, for the good of Hallownest.’ _

_ Quirrel straightened up, ‘Alright then Monomon.’ _

_ ‘Thank you,’ she replied, ‘You will lose memories of this place when you leave, but they shall soon return once you come back.’ _

_ With that, Quirrel had left the archive, his home, and set out to travel the distant places of the world. He travelled for months, and years until his heart suddenly tugged to go back to Hallownest. He soon met a vessel, Ghost, who had fought countless enemies and travelled all over the nest, looking for that one last dreamer; Monomon.  _ _ Once Quirrel took off the mask, opening the door to Monomon’s mind, he started to remember.  _

_ When the vessel had gone, Quirrel had stayed to grieve for his lost mentor. He soon set out, walking, until he had come to this huge, blue lake. _

_ What is my purpose now? He had thought. _

_ Quirrel was about to give up, deciding that there was nothing left for him, until a few bugs appeared from behind a wall of rock. _

_ ‘Grimmchild!’ one of them frowned with annoyance, ‘Stop rolling in the sand!’ _

_ One of the other two, a tall vessel, walked over to scoop the little moth up from the ground, while the other, a broad-shouldered cicada, had looked around lazily, until her eyes suddenly settled on him. _

_ She walked over, ‘Are you alright?..’ she spoke slowly. _

_ Quirrel’s mind was hazy from the grief and worry, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.’ _

_ She kept her gaze on him, serious, ‘I think it’d be best if you come with us for a bit, we’re on our way to Dirtmouth.’  _

_ The cicada offered out her hand to him. Quirrel hadn’t known what to do, but he accepted. _

_ I guess I can just come back down here some other time… _

_ But he didn’t. Quirrel had spent every day, hanging out with his new friends, who had helped heal him of his grief, grateful for the support they provided him. _

Tiso tapped Quirrel’s shoulder, bringing him back from the memories.

“Hey, you kinda zoned out there for a sec. Is it the question I asked? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Quirrel stared at the roof, thinking.

_ Is it weird if I tell him? We barely know each other, but at the same time, I am going to be with him for ages. Plus, he doesn’t seem like a bad bug, and I don’t mind. _

Quirrel decided to tell him.

“Uh well, it was a few months ago,” he began awkwardly, “Before I came back to Hallownest, I was a student at the archive, over at Fog Canyon. My mentor was requested to be a dreamer, which basically means they go into a never-ending slumber, to guard the infection. She gave me her mask to avoid it being opened at the wrong time. When I came back to give the mask, I hadn’t known what to do with myself. I-I guess I thought I didn’t really have a purpose anymore. I went to the Blue Lake, which is just above the city, and was thinking there for a while, and soon these bugs walked in. I think they knew what was going on, so they offered me to go join them. I did, and now I haven’t not been with them since...”

Both bugs stayed silent.

_ Was that the wrong thing to talk about?  _ Quirrel thought, panicking.

Before he could throw in an awkward joke, Tiso spoke.

“That must have been tough. I-I know what it’s like to lose a friend,” he mumbled, “My best friend was a traveller, he went to a lot of places, I tagged along most of the time. When we were old enough, we left our colony and went travelling. This one place we went to, we had heard it was pretty dangerous, but we wanted to go cause we thought it seemed exciting. He had his shield and I had a nail, so we thought we’d be alright. We ran into these savage creatures, brooding mawleks, anyway, my nail ended up breaking during the fight and I was getting cornered. I was about to be toast, but...my friend, h-he pushed me out of the way. When I turned back to him, he wasn’t moving. I-I ran outside with him to escape and-and he didn’t have a pulse. He got crushed by the mawleks while saving my scrappy ass instead...”

Quirrel heard Tiso sniff and turned to look at him. His eyes were tearing up and he was staring off into the distance.

“So I took his shield, and have never used a nail since. I continued wandering around by myself until I heard a few bugs say that a town nearby had this really ferocious battle arena. So, I went there, to try and win, and to prove to myself that I wasn’t weak and it was just bad luck that he died.”

Tiso turned away from him, covering his face with his hood, still sniffing. Quirrel didn’t really know what to do, but he had to try comforting the ant somehow. He laid next to him, pulling him into a weird side hug.

_ This probably isn’t helping much… _ Quirrel thought.

However, Tiso seemed to disagree. He turned, hugging Quirrel back into a proper hug.

Tiso sniffed once more, “Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor babies, they need a hug <3  
> Tell me your favourite chip flavour in the comments, mine is obviously Salt & Vinegar, lol  
> Hope you guys liked this chapter as well, sorry it was pretty thicc.


	3. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quirrel just can't get over how much he likes Tiso.   
> Tiso feels the same way, but just can't catch the hints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Hope y'all will like this chapter :)  
> Uhhh, stay hydrated.  
> Cya at the end notes!

[TISO]

It had been a month and one week since Tiso had been injured, and he felt as if he were slowly losing his mind.

Every day was the same, all he ever did was sleep, eat, relax in the hot spring, and hang out with Quirrel or Marissa. Not that the last part was that bad though, he had become close with both bugs, especially Quirrel.

_ I wonder if we’re close enough to be called friends? _

Tiso hadn’t had a friend since what had happened with his other friend, he didn’t want something like that to happen, so he avoided becoming close with any bug he had met. Tiso frowned.

_ It’s hard with Quirrel though... _

The pillbug spent so much time with him, helping him come up with exercises to stay fit, buying stuff at the shop to keep them entertained, helping him learn to use crutches, sometimes just talking.  Tiso couldn’t lie, he had grown close to Quirrel. It would be tough to see him leave, but Tiso’s leg had almost healed, and Quirrel said he would be able to leave once he could use the crutches well.

_ I’ll have to ask him about it when he gets back. _

[QUIRREL]

Quirrel walked up the street, caring two Subways with him. The two bugs had been staying at the Pleasure House for a while now, Quirrel’s feelings for the ant growing at the same time. He knew because Marissa constantly kept teasing him about it.  Quirrel should have told the ant about his feelings for him now ages ago, but he had been too nervous, today he wasn’t though. 

_ I hope he feels the same way… but what if he doesn’t? _

Quirrel shook his head to clear the bad thought.

_ But what if he does! _

He blushed at the thought as he entered the lift. If he said yes, then Quirrel would introduce him to the group as soon as he was fit to travel. Cloth and Ghost would probably get along with him well since they had similar personalities. Then soon enough he’d be able to get along with everyone!

_ We would go travelling all through Hallownest together! _

The thud of the lift stopping brought Quirrel back to reality. 

_ This is it! _ He thought, walking into the room. 

Tiso was thumbing with the threads at the end of the pillow, lost in thought.

“Hey!” Quirrel beamed, passing over the sandwich, “I got your favourite.”

“Thanks,” Tiso smiled back.

“Been doing much?”

Tiso paused, “Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“You know how you said I could leave once my leg had pretty much healed? Well, it has done that, and I can make my way around easily with the crutches, so I was thinking that maybe I should get going soon.”

Quirrel flinched, that wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

Tiso must have seen his reaction, as he quickly tried comforting him, “It’s not that I’m not grateful for your help or anything, I just thought you would want to get back to your friends and get me out of your way.”

Quirrel stared at him in disbelief.

_ I guess that means he doesn’t feel the same... _

He continued staring, not responding to the ant. Luckily, for Quirrel, Marissa came out to save his ass.

“You sure you want to leave when your wounds aren’t fully healed?” She questioned.

Tiso turned, “Well, they aren’t that bad anymore, I’m sure I’d be fine.”

“That’s what I thought as well!” Marissa cried, “Then I died!”

“What?..” Tiso trailed off.

“One night, I was attacked after my concert, left to die. Luckily my friend found me and got me to the emergency room, so I survived. Anyway, some time passed, and my wounds were looking about the same as yours now. I thought I’d be fine when I told my friends I’d hang out with them at the theme park. Though the rides I went on were so crazy! My wounds ended up ripping right open when I hit the side of the seat. Then I died!!”

Both bugs looked at her, confused. Quirrel had no idea if her story was even real, but he kept quiet.

“What I’m trying to say, is that just one swing of the shield, or one turn of your torso, could rip open your wounds again!”

“Oh,” Tiso sighed, “I just can’t stand staying inside here any longer.”

Quirrel agreed, and at least he got to go outside to the shops or go for a walk. Tiso hadn’t left for about 6 weeks now. 

_ Maybe we could leave together and stay somewhere safe for another week or something?.. _

_ Perfect! _

“Uh, yeah same here actually,” Quirrel agreed, “Maybe we could hang out somewhere safer, like Greenpath or something, until your wounds are better.”

“Really? You sure?” Tiso asked.

“Of course,” he smiled before adding to Marissa, “Thank you so much for letting us stay here for so long. We’ll make sure to visit again sometime.”

“No need to thank me,” Marissa laughed, “I enjoyed having people over, I hadn’t seen people for ages before then!”

“Well, then we should probably go now so we can get to Greenpath by night.” 

Marissa walked over, bringing in the two other bugs for a group hug, “Good luck and stay safe you guys,” she sent a wink over to Quirrel.

With that, the two of them picked up their belongings and headed down the lift, still eating their sandwiches. 

“Hey, we should probably stop by Woolies and get some food for the night,” Quirrel suggested. 

“Mmm, hrmm,” Tiso replied, nodding. 

The two waited to finish their lunch before heading down the street.

They soon came to a sign that read ‘Woolworths’ and headed inside. Many people roamed down the aisles, it was a busy day. 

“What should we get?” Tiso asked, looking around.

“I dunno, what do you want for dinner?” Quirrel asked back.

“Uhhhhh, kinda craving chicken kebabs I guess.”

“Okay cool, then we should get marshmallows too!”

“Sweet, I’ll snag the marshmallow’s, you get the kebabs, meet at checkout 4,” Tiso said, suddenly sounding serious.

“Sure, alright then,” Quirrel replied, just rolling with it, and left to go find the deli.

[TISO]

Tiso looked around the snacks aisle, looking for the marshmallows. He soon found them but paused as he read all the different packets.

Regular Marshmallows?

_ Maybe. _

Mini Marshmallows?

_ Nah. _

Limited Edition Rainbow Marshmallows?

_ FUCK YEAH! _

Tiso picked up the pack, pausing to grab some Doritos as well. He soon found Quirrel waiting at his planned aisle.

“Sweet, let’s go!” He said, pulling Quirrel forward.

“Ah hello there!” The elderly bug behind the counter greeted them.

“Hey miss, how are you today?” Tiso acted politely.

“Just wonderful! It’s so nice to see lovely young couples out and about.”

_ Does she mean… Quirrel and me? _

Tiso blushed a little. He knew he liked the pillbug, but in what type of way? He hadn’t thought of the possibility, he probably should and find out if Quirrel feels the same. What if Quirrel didn’t though, that would be awkward. He cleared the thought from his head, he needed to concentrate.

Tiso continued to stay silent instead of correcting her, he needed to be ready for the next part.

“Well, that comes to $12.59,” she said putting the items to the side, “Cash or card?”

“Now!” Tiso yelled, grabbing the stuff.

He ran out of the shop, hoping Quirrel was behind him. Otherwise, he’d probably get pulled up by security and Tiso would have to find some way to bail him out of jail.

Thankful, Quirrel must have caught onto his plan cause he was right behind him.

Tiso came to a stop behind an ally, Quirrel crashing into him from behind.

“Why did you steal it?” Quirrel asked, furious.

“Well, we didn’t have any money,” Tiso replied.

“Yes, we did! I had my card on me!”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t know.”

“What!? How else do you think I’ve been getting us food for the past 6 weeks?”

Tiso blinked, he hadn’t thought about that. 

Quirrel sighed, “Now I’ll never be able to go inside a Woolies ever again!”

“Nah, you’ll be fine! We’re wearing hoods and the lady behind the checkout was ancient as fuck. I chose that one for a reason Quirrel.”

Quirrel glared at him not saying anything, so Tiso just stared at the ground.

Thankfully, Quirrel decided not to stay mad at him, “Whatever, let’s just get to the station and get out of here.”

The two bugs walked side by side, avoiding the guards. Tiso hoped they would get there soon, his leg was starting to ache, and running probably wouldn’t have helped it.  He was limbing by the time they got to the station. Tiso sat down on the iron bench, while Quirrel rang the bell. It wasn’t too long before the stag soon arrived.  Quirrel jumped up first, sitting in the front seat, and Tiso passed up their food to him. He glanced at the back seat, hoping he’d make the jump.

“You should probably sit up here with me,” Quirrel spoke.

“Would there be enough room?” Tiso doubted.

“I’m sure you’ll fit.”

With that, Tiso scrambled up, taking Quirrel’s hand when he offered it.  There was barely enough room, Tiso just managed to squeeze in. Tiso’s right shoulder was crammed next to Quirrel, so he put it behind the pillbug, holding him next to him.

“Where are we off to?” asked the stag.

“Greenpath, please,” Quirrel replied.

With that, the stag went off, running into the deep tunnel, hardly lit from dim silver lanterns along the top.

Cool air hit them, growing colder the deeper they went. He felt Quirrel shiver next to him and pulled the pillbug closer. Tiso looked to Quirrel, he hadn’t exactly realised how close they had gotten to each other. The other bug’s face was right next to his. He stared into Quirrel’s eyes. Tiso wasn’t sure, but he thought he could see him blush.

_ Do I kiss him? _

_ But what if he’s just looking at me weird, that’d be awkward as fuck then. _

But staring into the pillbug’s eyes at this moment, he didn’t care.

He took in a breath and moved forward.

Sudden light that entered the tunnel ahead stopped him. They’ve reached the stop. Both bugs moved away from each other, not making eye contact.

_ Is he blushing or thinks I’m weird??  _

Tiso couldn’t tell.

_ Fuck! If only we were a few more seconds from getting here! _

“We have reached Greenpath,” the stag interrupted.

“...Thanks,” was all Tiso replied with.

Both bugs took their food and hopped off.

“..So...where do you plan on us going?” Tiso asked.

“Me and my friends found a cool hangout spot, we could spend the night there, but right now I wanted to show you one of my favourite places in the area.” 

“What if we see your friends here?”

“Even better! Then I could introduce you to them, or, at least to the ones that haven’t met you yet,” Quirrel smirked at him.

They both walked in comfortable silence. Tiso hadn’t been to Greenpath before, and even though he wasn’t one to fawn over pretty stuff, he had to admit that it was the most beautiful place he’d ever been to so far.

A rustle nearby caught his attention. He brought up his shield, standing in front of Quirrel.

“Don’t worry, I got this!” he told the pillbug.

The leaves rustled and up popped a bush. It wandered past them before disappearing.

Tiso stared after it, confused.

“Hey, thanks for protecting me from that mosscreep,” Quirrel teased him, “I don’t think I would have made it out alive.”

Tiso blushed from embarrassment, deciding to let Quirrel take the lead instead. 

[QUIRREL] 

Quirrel gazed around, not even paying attention. He was glad that he knew the place well enough for his legs to move on auto-pilot, cause right now, all he could think about was Tiso.  Quirrel hadn’t felt this way about anyone before. Sure, he had a couple of crushes back at his time in the archive, but none had ever made him feel like this before!

He replayed the moment again in his mind.

Tiso holding him next to him, staring into his eyes, almost about to kiss him…

_ Ugh, he really does make me feel like some lovestruck teenager!  _ Quirrel smiled.

_ Maybe I could get him to try and kiss me again here, or later tonight?.. _

They continued to move through the forest, following the path down to the lake. 

“This is the Lake of Unn,” Quirrel informed Tiso.

“Cool,” Tiso said scanning the clearing.

They sat next to each other at the end of the dock.

“This is probably one of my favourite places to go to,” Quirrel told him.

“Why?” Tiso asked, bewildered.

“Well, it’s nice, peaceful and has a lot of nice scenery,” Quirrel began, “Plus, I could spend the whole day down here with someone, maybe having a picnic or something,” Quirrel hinted. 

“That’s nice,” Tiso replied.

Quirrel frowned. He had expected it to be an obvious hint, but Tiso hadn’t caught on…

“If I had to spend a whole day somewhere it’d be Deepnest,” Tiso said back.

_ That’d be almost as bad as the Royal Waterways! _

“...Sounds fun…” was all Quirrel could think of.

_ Well, that failed!  _ Quirrel sighed lightly, making sure it wouldn’t catch the ant’s attention.

_ I guess I can try again later, I hope by then he’ll get the hint, otherwise I might just have to make the first move myself. _

Quirrel stared up at the sky a few moments longer before speaking.

“We should probably go now.”

[TISO]

He followed Quirrel back along the path. The awkward attempted kiss had kept him distracted from talking much with Quirrel. Tiso needed to know how he could ask the pillbug if he had feelings for him, or try to attempt at kiss again somehow.

They soon stopped at the top of a hill.

“That place down there was Hornet’s battlefield,” Quirrel informed him, “She and Ghost met here for the first time and did a duel. Now that the Radiance has been defeated, she doesn’t need to use it anymore, but we still come here to hang out.” 

Tiso took in the sight. A stone clearing laid in the middle, surrounding it was many large bushes and stone pillars. Vines hanged from the roof, with gaps for the light to shine through.

“It’s pretty,” Tiso gazed around. 

“C’mon, we should set up a fire before we can’t see what we’re doing,” Quirrel said, taking the lead again.

The pillbug picked up a handful of small branches on the ground.

“Mind bringing over a handful of leaves?” he asked.

“Sure thing!” Tiso called back, then hesitated.

“Don’t worry, no mosscreeps are going to come up and attack,” Quirrel called back, not even turning.

Tiso rolled his eyes, smiling, and picked up a bunch of leaves. He joined the pillbug, helping him start up a fire.

Once the flames got stronger, Quirrel pulled out the kebabs, cooking them over the fire, and the two started eating.

“So, what are we going to do tomorrow?” Tiso asked after a few minutes.

“I was thinking we should go down to the Fog Canyon and see the archive. It’s not too far and I haven’t been there for a few months.”

“Sure, I guess,” Tiso said, throwing the skewers into the fire, “What about the rest of the week?”

“I don’t want to talk about the rest of the week,” Quirrel said throwing in his skewers. Then he leaned closer to Tiso, “I want to talk about today, on the stag ride.”

_ Oh no!  _ Tiso thought, panicking,  _ He’s going to bring up how I failed awkwardly to make a move, then probably reject me as well! _

Tiso’s thoughts rushed, trying to figure out how he could reject Quirrel before the pillbug could reject him.

“Ahh, yeah, you were looking at me kinda weird then,” was all Tiso could think of.

Quirrel backed away instantly, not looking at him, “Right.”

Tiso stared at him, confused, he was sure the pillbug was going to make fun of him, so why did he seem upset? 

_ Probably annoyed that I rejected him before he rejected me! _

Still, Quirrel didn’t look at him.

Tiso tried thinking of something to break the silence, “Uh, I got us rainbow marshmallows at the shop,” Tiso began, “Do you want some?”

“N-No thanks,” Quirrel stuttered, “I think I’ll just go for a walk.”

“Okay then…” Tiso said.

He watched the pillbug leave at the other end of the clearing. 

Tiso sighed, opening the bag of marshmallows, pulling out an orange one. Leaning, he grasped a stick near him and stabbed the marshmallow on top. Sullenly, he lifted it above the fire, toasting it.

After having a few marshmallows, Tiso saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

Quirrel had returned.

“Want any marshmallows?” He asked him, hoping he’d say yes.

“No, I just want to sleep,” Quirrel mumbled, making himself comfortable on the other side of the fire.

That made it quite clear to Tiso. Now Quirrel didn’t even want to be friends…

Disappointed, Tiso curled up next to the fire. It didn’t matter anymore. Quirrel wouldn’t want to take him to the canyon anymore, so Tiso would just leave. He was a solo traveller anyway. It was better that they departed tomorrow. Tiso couldn’t risk gaining a connection again, it only made him hurt more.

With that, Tiso shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunatly for Quirrel, Tiso is a fucking idiot...  
> Fortunatly for us, we get another chapter!!  
> Everyone say 'thanks Tiso' in the comments.  
> I'm always craving kababs.  
> Later!


	4. ..Depature?..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the heartbreak, Quirrel's friends say that he is better off without Tiso.  
> Tiso learns the truth and needs to explain to Quirrel.  
> Grimmchild has gone missing as well!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys... :'(  
> Let's hope Tiso isn't shit at apologizing either, otherwise we're fucked!  
> I'll see you for the last time in the end notes...  
> Unless you comment or something, lol.

[QUIRREL]

Something prodded Quirrel in the side of his arm, waking him slightly. He ignored it, trying to get more sleep, but it didn’t give up, as it kept prodding his arm.  Quirrel opened his eyes, squinting at the sunlight that gazed down on him from the canopy. He turned, surprised to see all his friends standing next to him. Hornet was in the front, her needle in her hand, Quirrel guessed she woke him.

“What the fuck happened?” she asked, narrowing her eyebrows.

“What?” Quirrel whispered.

“Look, since we left you at the Pleasure House, we expected to find you in many states. The most commonly thought one was in bed with him, with a pack of condoms on the bedside table,” she said, not even joking, “But this,” she pointed at the distance between him and Tiso, “This I was not expecting.”

Quirrel sighed, “Neither did I…”

“Do you want to tell us what happened?” Cloth sat beside him, hugging him.

Quirrel told them everything, from their time together at the Pleasure House, to their moment on the stag ride, to their awkward chat by the lake, then to last night’s disaster.  They listened to every word, not missing a heartbeat. When he finished he could see how horrified the group was at the news. Myla looked like she was about to cry, Lemm was balling his fists, about to finally beat the shit out of Tiso, Hollow shook their head, stunned. Grimmkid just rolled in the dirt.

“So, you’re telling me, that he flirted with you on the stag ride, then does small talk and then rejects you?!” Hornet hissed.

“Well, yeah, basically,” Quirrel said.

“You know what? Fuck him, let’s go. We’re going,” Hornet hissed, glaring at Tiso, who still snored, sound asleep.

Ghost offered him a hand up, and soon, everyone was heading out the exit. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll be over him soon,” Cloth reassured him, “In the meantime, we know you love watching Grimm’s performances, so we’ll ask him to do one for you! It’ll be great!”

Quirrel tried to smile optimistically, but his heart still ached at the rejection. He was so sure, that after failing on the stag ride, that Tiso would kiss him by the fire.  But he was wrong, so wrong. Quirrel was so hurt, he went back down to the lake by himself and cried it all out.

The air suddenly cooled, they must be at the Crossroads now. He let Hollow and Myla guide him along, making sure he made the jumps, and took care of the guzzlers and tiktiks that came in his way.

They soon came to the well, Quirrel and his friends managing the climb easily.  Once Quirrel got over the ledge, he was surprised to see Grimm already waiting nearby.  The dark moth eyed the top of the well, probably looking for Grimmkid, but he didn’t appear.

“Where is Grimmchild?” the concerned father asked.

Everyone looked around, bewildered. They were sure the little moth had been right behind them.

_ “Uhh, when did you guys last see him?”  _ Ghost questioned.

“When we entered Greenpath maybe?” Lemm said, trying to remember.

_ “No, he was still with us when we found Quirrel,”  _ Hollow added in.

“Did anyone see him after that?” Hornet asked.

“No, but why would he stay there though?” Myla asked, confused.

Quirrel tried thinking of what may have been down there, but it only made him think of what happened by the fire.

A wave of grief flooded over his heart again.

“Well, it’s alright then,” Grimm tried reassuring them, more so himself, “I’ll just spread out some Doritos near the well, he might be able to scent them when he comes nearby.”

Grimm pulled a pack of Doritos from his cape and started throwing them around the well. Quirrel saw someone move in the corner of his eye, he turned to see Zote walking forward angrily.

“Grimm!” Zote shouted, “It’s against the law to litter in public!”   
“But my son is missing and the only thing that grabs his attention is Doritos,” Grimm replied gloomily.

“Littering and feeding your son a malnourished diet? Now I’m gonna have to call the child protection services too!” Zote said, pulling out his iPhone.

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” Grimm screamed picking up Zote. He drew his arm back, and with all his might he threw Zote as far as he could. 

Quirrel turned. Grimm had managed to throw Zote over the entire Crystal Peak.

Everyone gave him a round of applause, Zote was mega annoying.

_ “Okay. Grimm should probably stay here,” _ Ghost started,  _ “Hornet and Cloth should go to Greenpath. Hollow, you look at the Howling Cliffs. Lemm, Crossroads. Myla and I will check Queen’s Gardens. Quirrel, do you want to stay here with Grimm or…?” _

“I’ll probably go revisit Marissa; she’s a good friend and will want to know what happened,” Quirrel replied sadly.

“You look after yourself, alright?” Cloth said, hugging him.

“Of course. I’ll be back by night, and if I’m not then I’ll call you.”

With that, the group made their way back down the well, Grimm sat next to Mayor Elderbug on the bench, who was trying his hardest to comfort the worried father.

Quirrel almost turned toward the Stag Station, that was the quickest route there after all, but he couldn’t. It would remind him of how close he and Tiso had sat next to each other, how the ant had stared into Quirrel’s eyes, leaning forward, a moment away from a kiss.

Another pang hit Quirrel, his eyes starting to water. He went down the well, following the route to the city lift.

[TISO]

Tiso felt something wet touch his arm. He opened his eyes to see some weird, baby moth try clawing at the pack or Doritos he had been holding against his chest.  Startled, Tiso scrambled away, in turn, scaring the little moth who ran into the bushes.

Regaining his cool, Tiso chuckled a little.

“Hey, Quirrel!” Tiso called, turning to where the pillbug had slept. He was surprised to see that he wasn’t there.

_...Oh… _

Tiso frowned, maybe Quirrel had gone for a walk and decided not to wake him?..

He stood up, picking up his Doritos as well.

“Quirrel!?” he called out.

No reply.

Tiso walked out from the opening they came through yesterday, heading down the path.

“Quirrel!?”

Still nothing.

He walked through the forest, still calling for the pillbug, but was met with no reply.

Tiso guessed that Quirrel had decided to leave.

A wave of sadness fell over Tiso.

_ Whatever, I was planning on leaving today anyway, and Quirrel probably didn’t share the same feelings that I have, no had, for him either,  _ Tiso tried telling himself.

_ Maybe I could talk to Marissa about it, she would understand, and ma- _

A rustle nearby broke him away from his thoughts. He turned, catching a dark figure among the grass. It was the little moth from earlier.  Tiso smiled, it mustn’t think he could see him. The little figure moved along the grass again, Tiso watching. Suddenly, he noticed a huge fly trap plant, hiding among the leaves.

The moth wouldn’t see it!

Tiso dived forward, scooping up the dark grey bundle, and rolled. He heard the plant snap next to him.

They had just missed becoming lunch!

The little moth wailed in his arms, huddling closer to him. Tiso frowned, the little fella was too small to be out by himself, what if he stumbled into Deepnest? The moth wouldn’t last a minute.  He picked up the moth, cradling him in his arms, and went to pick up the Doritos and shield he dropped.

“You should probably stay with me. I’ll take you up to Dirtmouth later and hopefully, someone can find your parents or something,” Tiso told the moth, knowing it wouldn’t understand a word he was saying.

_ Mrrow,  _ was all he replied.

Tiso entered the station, ringing the bell, waiting for the stag. They didn’t have to wait too long as the stag soon appeared.  He stepped forward, then hesitated, remembering yesterday’s ride, how he almost kissed Quirrel.

_ That would have been embarrassing! Quirrel would have definitely laughed his ass off at me. I must have been dreaming to think Quirrel actually had feelings for me!  _

Tiso regained his focus and jumped up to the seat, the little moth making himself comfortable next to him. The moth chewed at his Dorito packet again, trying to rip it open.

“No,” Tiso told him firmly.

The moth hissed at him in reply and continued trying to open it.

Tiso facepalmed in realisation.

_ He’s probably hungry, idiot! _

Tiso opened the packet, holding out a chip for the moth.

Eager, he ripped the chip out of Tiso’s hand, munching before looking up again, hoping for more chips.

Tiso fed him another two before the stag spoke up.

“Hey, where am I taking you?” he asked impatiently.

“Oh right, sorry. King’s Station please.”

[QUIRREL]

Rain poured from the ceiling above. Quirrel still found it amusing how the King had been stupid enough to build his city under a lake. He was soaking, but at least he didn’t have to watch where he was going if no bug dared to set foot from under the roofs. 

Quirrel sighed as he entered the station, it was packed.  He moved through the mass of bugs, looking for the damaged hot spring sign from the Pleasure House.  A few bugs passed, and he soon found it. He scurried to the door and stepped inside, turning to the lift.  Quirrel looked down at the city. It was a beautiful view, never failing to surprise him. The lift came to a stop, and Quirrel walked out, moving towards Marissa’s stage.  He saw her sitting upon it, writing down something, probably lyrics to a new song.

“Hey?” Quirrel said.

She looked up, surprised, but soon smiled.

“Quirrel!” she said, hugging him, “So when’s the wedding?”

“What?..” Quirrel frowned.

“Don’t worry, I was just kidding,” Marissa laughed,  then paused, looking behind him, “No Tiso?”

He looked at the floor, not meeting her eye.

“What happed sweetie?” she asked softly.

Quirrel told her everything, basically repeating the same story as earlier.

She narrowed her eyes, “That’s pretty weird. He flirts with you and then rejects you?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what was going through his head,” Quirrel sniffed, “Maybe he was pretending to act like he was going to kiss me on the stag as a joke or something.” 

The thought hurt Quirrel even more. He felt a tear slide down his face.

“Oh dear,” Marissa sighed, “Why don’t you stay here for the rest of the day.”

“N-No thanks,” Quirrel replied, thinking of all the times he had slept next to the ant, only a couple metres away from him now, “It probably wouldn’t help.”

“Right, okay then. Well, make sure you come down to visit again soon, alright?”

Quirrel nodded his head, waving good-bye.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about Tiso. He knew it was cheesy, but from the moment he saw the ant, his bravery and hopefulness during the battle, Quirrrel knew he had developed something for him. 

He opened the door, making his way into the sea of bugs, and headed back to the lift.

[TISO]

The stag slowed to a halt, and Tiso jumped off, carrying the little moth with him. Between the two of them, they were able to eat the entire packet during the stag ride.  He threw the rubbish in the bin and moved down the street, trying to avoid bumping into anyone.  The moth laid sleepily in his arms and snuggled up to him, trying to keep warm. Tiso smiled, it would be hard to see the little guy go, but Tiso wasn’t cut out to be a parent, and the moth probably had a family anyway. He doubted some abandoned moth would be able to grow such an attachment to Doritos unless someone was going out to buy them for him.

Tiso soon found the door and headed inside. He flicked the lift switch and waited. It soon came to a stop and Tiso walked in, heading towards Marissa’s stage.  She was sitting on the stage, deep in thought, her arm’s crossed.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Tiso asked.

She turned and glared, “Save it! Quirrel’s already told me everything.”

Tiso stared at her blankly.

“You know! About how you rejected him by the fire after flirting with him on the stag ride!”

“I rejected him?” Tiso frowned, “Well, yeah, I guess I did, but he was going to reject me!”

“What?” Marissa asked.

“Well, after I failed to kiss him on the stag ride, I thought he was going to reject me because I failed and I’m an idiot. So I decided to reject him before he rejected me...” Tiso trailed off, realising how stupid it sounded when he said it out loud.

Of course Quirrel wasn’t going to reject him! How on earth did Tiso think he would? Quirrel had been nothing but loving and caring towards him; looking after him from the Colosseum, remembering what he liked on his Subway, the way he had looked at him on the stag ride and against the fire. How had Tiso been so blind!?

“Holy fuck…” Tiso trailed off.

“Oh my g-” Marissa facepalmed, “Well don’t hang around here! You gotta go talk to him!”

“I-I don’t know where he went.”

“Well, he was soaking wet when he got here, so he would have had to pass the town square, so head that way!”

Tiso nodded, too stunned to speak. He placed the little moth onto a pillow, leaving his shield with him as well. 

His ran onto the lift, flicking the switch instantly. As soon as it came to the stop, Tiso sprinted out. He headed towards the square, not even caring if he hit someone as he passed. Desperately, he scanned the square for the pillbug. He soon saw him and ran out into the rain.

“Quirrel! Quirrel!” Tiso called out to him.

Quirrel turned, confused to see him.

He stopped in front of him, catching his breath.

“Look, Quirrel, I need to tell you something,” Tiso puffed.

“What?” Quirrel looked at him.

“Well, last night by the fire, for some reason, when you brought the topic on what happened on the stag ride, I thought you were going to reject me. You know? Cause I’m stupid and I failed to kiss you and all that. So, I decided to reject you instead to avoid me getting rejected, which wasn’t even going to happen!” Tiso blushed, “So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I actually do love you! I really do! A-and I’m sorry…”

Quirrel stared at him, shocked.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me or anything,” Tiso spoke again, “I just wanted to apologize...”

Quirrel smirked at him.

“Oh Tiso, I guess you really are an idiot,” Quirrel said, pulling Tiso into a hug. Tiso held Quirrel as tight as he could, grateful that he decided to forgive his stupid ass.

Quirrel pulled away, smiling at him.

“I guess I’m going to have to convince my friends not to beat the shit out of you once I introduce you to them,” Quirrel laughed.

Tiso laughed back.

“I just need to pick someone up from Marissa’s place,” Tiso said.

Quirrel seemed a little confused but went ahead with it. They walked back to the Pleasure House, holding hands as they walked. When they had got to the top floor, Marissa wasn’t there, but had left a note saying to text her later. Tiso walked inside.

“So, I found this little moth earlier,” Tiso began, “And he just kept following me around, so I decided to keep an eye on him and brought him with me. He’s addicted to Doritos too!”

He picked up the sleeping moth, cradling it in his arms.

“That’s Grimmchild!” Quirrel exclaimed, “We didn’t know where he went this morning, Grimm was worried sick!”

Tiso passed Quirrel the little moth and picked up his shield, going out the door.  Quirrel headed towards the square but Tiso stopped him.

“I was thinking that maybe a stag ride would get us back quicker,” Tiso told him.

Quirrel got the hint, at least one of them was able to. They walked hand in hand until they reached the station. Tiso rang the bell and the stag soon arrived. The two, along with Grimmchild, hopped onto the stag.

“Dirtmouth thanks,” Quirrel said.

They headed forward, into the darkness.  Tiso pulled Quirrel towards him, and the two bugs stared into each other’s eyes. He thought he could even see Quirrel blush again, just like he had yesterday.  Tiso didn’t hesitate this time, as he pushed his lips against the other bug’s, pulling him into the kiss.  They stayed like that for a few moments before Quirrel pulled away.

“I love you, Tiso,” he said cuddling him.

Tiso rested his head against Quirrel’s, sharing the embrace,  “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumb ass? Finally kisses Quirrel.  
> Smol bean? Gets to be with Tiso.  
> Grimmkid? Is safe and eating Doritos.  
> Zote? Probably fukin dead, let's be real.  
> Story? Is now ended :(  
> I hope you guys enjoyed it cause I loved writing every minute of it. Hope the ending wasn't too cringe... .  
> I may do another fic in the future, but it'd be awhile away. It'd probs be another Quirrel/Tiso again cause I lowkey have another ideaaaaa.  
> Comment what you thought of it, and of course, I always welcome constructive criticism :)  
> Stay safe everyone <3

**Author's Note:**

> Lol, there's the first chapter! I hope you guys liked it.  
> Feel free to ask any questions too.  
> I'm sorry Quirrel's friends are comic-relief, but I needed some idiots to help with the story while Tiso is out, lmao.  
> Cya in the next chapter (hopefully...)


End file.
